How to Make Your Own Bubble Hash

Bubble Hash or Ice Hash is known as one of the purest forms of hash. It’s often called Ice Hash because the trichomes or THC crystals are separated from the plant material using water and ice. Besides the Bubble Hash method, there are also other methods used to separate trichomes from plant material. In this article, we will explain and show how everybody can make his own piece of Ice Hash, with or without using bubble bags.

Bubble Bags VS No Bubble Bags

For those who don’t know what bubble bags are we will shortly explain. Bubble bags are specially designed for making Bubble Hash. These bags will have different sizes of filters that are usually expressed in microns. What this actually means is how big the size of the filter screen is and how small the trichomes must be in order to still slip through the filter.

The most used micron sizes are shown below:

220 micron

190 micron

160 micron

120 micron

90 micron

73 micron

45 micron

25 micron

The first bag, the 220-micron bag is only used to catch all the plant material and should be thrown away. The following bags, 190, and 160 are by most also seen as waste but depending on your own taste you might use this as well. The bags ranging from 120-25 micron will catch high-quality trichomes from your trim.

Trichomes close up

Because every strain of weed is different the size of the trichomes are also different for each strain. Sativa dominant strains, for example, have more small trichomes so most trichomes will be in the last two bubble bags. As every bag has it’s own size the flavor and quality of every hash will also differ per bag.

What Do You Need to Make Bubble Hash?

Trim or buds

2/3 buckets

A lot of ice

Thermometer

Some old towels

Bubble bags or pantyhose

A mixer

A piece of tube, small jar, and pipette (if you don’t have bubble bags)

Step-by-step Guide to making Bubble Hash

Step 1: preparing the Bubble Hash process.

Before starting it is recommended to place your trim in the freezer one night before extracting. The cold will cause the trichomes to separate more easily from the plant material. Fill one of your buckets with cold water, add the ice and check the temperature with your thermometer.

Step 2: Add the trim and mix it.

Once the water is 4 °C or colder the trichomes are able to be separated from your trim. In this step, we will add the trim and mix it all together for 15 minutes. Make sure you don’t mix it too hard because we don’t want small particles plant material in our bubble bags.

Step 3: Separate the trichomes from the water.

Take an empty bucket and place your bubble bags in the right order. Starting out with the smallest bag and putting the bigger ones in the smaller ones. Before pouring the full bucket into the bubble bags it is recommended to sieve the large plant material out using a standard kitchen sieve.

For the next step, it is useful to have an extra pair of hands as we are going to pour our plant material water into the bubble bags. Once you have poured the plant material water through the bubble bags it is time to lift the bags out of the water one by one. As we said earlier the 220-micron bag is filled with plant material and can be thrown away. The following two bags are completely up to you.

When you pull the bags out of the water make sure you have an old towel at hand. If you shape the filter screen into a tip you can gently squeeze from the outside with our towel. When you open the bubble bag the trichomes will be packed together and are easily taken out of the back. If you are having trouble with emptying the last two bags you can shake the bag up and down to speed up the process.

Extracting Trichomes From the Water Without Bubble Bags

If you are reading this paragraph you probably don’t have bubble bags but you still would like to make some Bubble Hash. The good news is that without bubble bags you can still make your own Bubble Hash. While the process of mixing and separating the trichomes from your plant material is the same it will be slightly different in the next step.

Instead of separating the trichomes using the bubble bags we are going to use a little science. Using your pantyhose as a sieve cloth we will first separate all the plant material from the water. We recommend sieving the water 4 times to make sure no small plant material will be in your hash later on. Once the water is nicely sieved we will have a bucket filled with water and trichomes. However, trichomes are heavier than water which makes them sink to the bottom of your bucket very slow. So the next step is to place the bucket somewhere safe and let it rest for a couple of hours and make sure you don’t shake the water anymore.

Once you have made sure the water is not disturbed anymore and you don’t see trichomes of the surface ready to fall down you have waited long enough. To separate the water from your trichomes we will need a piece of tube. Put one side of the tube gently in the water and suck on the other half of the tube creating an ongoing suction. Catch the water in an empty bucket and throw this away. If you can see the trichomes on the bottom and there isn’t much water left take the pipe out of the water.

Now that we have trichomes with only a little bit of water in the bucket we are going to pour this substance into a small jar. Again repeat the process only now using your pipette or something else to remove the last bit of water. Once you have done this you can place the wet trichomes on baking paper and wait until they are completely dried up.

Drying and Pressing the Trichomes Into Bubble Hash

Once you have separated the trichomes from the water it is very important to spread them out and let it dry for a day or two. If you immediately shape it into a ball or something like that there is a great chance your hash will mold. The advantage of using bubble bags is that you’re able to dry your trichomes better as you can use an old towel to squeeze your bubble bags.

Once your trichomes are dry it is finally time to make hash. To do this we will compress the trichomes using pressure or heat. While you can apply pressure and heat using your hands and a lighter you could also use a pollen press.

Factors That Influence the Quality and Quantity of Your Bubble Hash

A rule of thumb is that on average you will yield 5% of the weight of your trim in Bubble Hash. However, The quality and quantity you can expect from your trim or buds depend on multiple factors.

The first important difference is of course if you use trim or buds. It is needless to say that buds will deliver more potent Bubble Hash. The buds contain more trichomes and more terpenes which will give a better taste and a stronger high.

The second factor is whether you use dried trim or fresh trim. Fresh trim is more suitable for making Ice Hash because it will enhance flavor and will be less contaminated with small plant particles that come through the filters.

The third factor is the quality of your trim or buds. For example, outdoor cultivation will produce fewer trichomes in comparison with indoor cultivation that has grown in perfect conditions.

The fourth factor that will determine the quality and taste of your hash is the strain of choice. A strain can be Sativa, Indica or hybrid and have different highs and amounts of trichomes. This is often personal preference so make sure you try different strains to create the Bubble Hash that suits you best.

Create and Share

Now you know how to make your own Bubble Hash it is time to get to work. Even though making your own Ice Hash is more time-consuming than just buying it you will definitely enjoy it more. Make sure to share this information and your own Bubble Hash creations using #theherbproject.

Hey there! My name is Jennifer Alger and together with my husband Anthony, we are the herb project. As a rock climbing trainer and nature enthusiast, I just love to show everyone the beauty of nature. I think that society has lost its connection with the earth and by sharing my knowledge I sincerely hope to reconnect people with their own nature again. If you would like to reach out to me you can message me here!

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